Printing device.



J. S. DUNCAN. PRINTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.23, 1912.

Patented Dec. 2, 1913.

229:0 moo zIow '1 ,oso,2o1.

an stares Parana ora ion JOSEPH S. DUNCAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NOR T ADDRESSOGl-RAPH COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0 1? ILLINOIS.

' PRINTING DEVICE;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented net. 2, acre.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH S. DUNCAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing atv Chicago, in the-county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing Devices, of

' which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of printing devices in which the printing charactors are stamped in relief on one side of a metal plate, the other side of the plate showing the printing characters in intaglio.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a printing device to print the ad dress and salutation in a letter, the device being particularly adapted, although not so limited, foruse in connection with a printing form constituting the subject matter of another application whereby an entire letter including the address and salutation may be printed from stamped up sheet-metal printing characters which make an impression closely resembling typewritten matter.

Ego t Another object of the invention isto provide a printing device on which the saluta-' tion is located adjacent the edgeof the device so that the printed salutation will be spaced on thepaperthe requisite distance from the body of the letter.

"A further object of the invention is to provide a novel construction at one edge of the device for the reception of index tabs so that the devices maybe-arranged in accordance with acard index system.

One preferred embodiment of my invention' is illustrated in the accompanying drawings from which, when considered in "connection 'with the following description,

is an end view of a stack of superimposed printing devices similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a side elevational View looking toward the left at the stack of devices shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional viewtaken substantially on the line 55 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a similar view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

and Figs 7, 8 and 9 are fragmentary views showing modified forms of the rib at the lower edge of the device. p

The device is preferably stamped from a single sheet of metal and comprises a body portion 11 which may be of any desired dimensions but is preferably large enough to accommodate a letter address and Salutation.

The type characters forming .theaddress are pre erably stamped up in relief in two or morelines 12 and the Salutation 13 is stamped upv in relief on the same side of the device butadjacentthe lower edge thereof, the first letter of the Salutation beingpreferably alined on the device withthefirst letter of-the name to conform to-thei usual form ofan ordinary typewritten letter. The metal at the lower edge of the device is preferably turned back upon itself as indicated by reference character 14in Fig. 5 to produce a rib which serves the dual'purpose of strengthening this edge ofthe device and spacing the devices apart when they are stacked, thereby protecting the printing surfaces of the stamped up printing characters. It is desirable that the Salutation be stamped up very-close to the edge of the device to obtain the requisite spacing between the Salutation and the body of the letter and therefore the rib 14 is prefer-ably omitted-or cut away beneath that portion. of the plate on which thesalutation is formed to prevent injury of the salutation characters by the rib of an adjacent device when two or more devices are superimposed or stacked. This construction also enables the rib is: to be formed before the Salutation is struck up, thereby obviating any danger of injury to the printing. characters of the salutation such as might occur. if the rib 14 were rolled back in a machine after the salutation had been struck 'up and, furthermore, enables the printing devices to be madeup in the factory and shipped out to customerswho may themselves stamp up the address and Salutation with an office graphotype or'simi- "lar machine.

Adjacent the opposite margin of thede I vice, "or, in otherv words, above the address the metal is depressed below its normal plane to form a depressed panel 15 leavin the margin 16 in approximately its origins plane. The. metal extending beyond or outside. the margin 16 is bent downwardly at 17 and theninwardly at lit-beneath the depressed panelloythe lower face of the inturned portion 18 lying substantially in a plane with the lower edge of the rib 14. The side walls of the depressed panel 16 are provided with alined perforations 19 and 20 and the downturnedAportion 17 is also provided with perforations 21 alined with the perforations 19 and 20 for the reception of suitable index tabs 22 which are inserted at the top of the device through the alined perforations. To lock the tabs against accidental displacement, slight projections 23 may be formed on the back of the device to engage in corresponding depressions 24 formed near the inner ends of the index tabs. From Fig. 3 it will be observed that the lower faces of the int-urned ends 18 and the lower edges of the ribs 14 are spaced a slightly greater distance beneath the body of the device than the height of the struck up printing characters so that the devices are spaced apart thereby and the printing surfaces of the printing characters are protected from abrasion when the devices are stacked.

The devices constructed as above described are intended to be stacked ina magazine in a printing machine and are fed therefrom endwise instead of sidewise as has been customary heretofore. In actual practice the devices are withdrawn from thebottom of the stack, one of the devices partially withdrawn being shown in Fig. 4,

In Fig. 7 the lower edge of the metal blank is shown as folded back upon itself at 25, then depressed to form the rib 26, the edge being turned upwardly against the lower face of the body 11. In Fig. 8 the length of the turned back portion 25 is slightly increased and the edge beyond the rib 26 is disposed at substantially right angles with the body 11. In Fig. 9 the rib 27 is formed by rolling the metal back in substantially cylindrical form. Various ather shapes in which the rib 1 1 may be formed will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and it will be manifest that the present invention is not limited tobany particular shape or configuration of r1 The printing devices are run through machines inwhieh the address and salutation are printed upon letter paper in proper position so that the body of the letter may be printed below in close simulation of type- .writing. In view of the comparatively soft metal necessarily employed in the construction LE the printing devices it is desirable that they should be stiffened and "strengthened to preserve their shape and this stiffening is effected in the present instance by the rib 14 at one edge of the device and the depressed panel 15 and bent portions 17 and 1.8 at the opposite edge. By omitting a portion of the rib 14: and stamping up the Salutation very closcto this edge of the device the proper spacing bet-ween the salutation and the body of the letter is secured. The impressions produced by the stamped up metal printing characters are a very close simulation of the typewriting which it is desired to imitate and will closely resemble the type impressions of a typewritten or imitation typewritten letter on which they may be made.

'It is believed that my invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing without further description and it will be obvious to those skilled in l the art that the particular construction shown and described is capable of considerable modification without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the material advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. A shectaneml printing device havmg an address stamped up in relief on one face thereof, a rib formed at one edge of the device and extend w; throughout a portion of its length, and a salutation stamped up in relief adjacent the said edge of the device and at the end of said rib.

2. A sheet-metal printing device provided with a Salutation adjacent one edge stamped up from the body of the metal and having a rib extending along said edge from the salutation toward an end of the device.

3. A sheet-metal printing device provided with an address stamped up therein and a spacing rib at one edge thereof, said rib being omitted throughout a portion of the length of the device to permit the formation of a salutation in the device where the rib portion is omitted.

4. A sheet-metal printing device provided with a strengthening rib extending partially across the device at oneedge thereof and having printing characters stamped up from the body of the metal at one end of said rib.

5. A sheet-metal printing device having an address stamped up in relief on one face thereof, the edge of said device below the address being turned back upon itself to form a rib extending partially throughout the length of the device, and a Salutation stamped up in relief adjacent said edge of the device.

6. A sheet metal printing device provided with printing characters stamped up in relief on the front thereof, one edge of the de vice being turned over to form a rib on the back of .the device, therebeing a depression in the front of the device adjacent the opposite edgc thereof and forming an elevated panel on the back of the device, the edge portion of the device adjacent the panel being bent over upon the back of the device an overlapping the panel.

. 7. A sheet metal printing device having a depression in one face forming an elevated pane". in the opposite face thereof, an edge portion of the device being folded back upon itself and overlapping the elevated the panel, the side Walls of the panel being provided with registered openings.

8. A plurality of sheet-metal printing devices each having printing characters stamped up in relief on the upper face thereof and spacing means integral therewith to the printing characters with adjacent plates When the latter are arranged one above the other in a stack, said means comprising a rib extending from one end partially throughout the length of the device, some of said printing characters being located adjacent said edge ofthe device between the other end of the device and the adjacent end of said most device in a stack may be moved end- -Wise from beneath characters engaging in the stack.

the stack without the the next above device rib whereby the lower- 9. A sheet metal printing device having a face of plurality of lines of type stamped up in relief on one face thereof, one line being disposed closely adjacent to one edge of the device, and a spacing element on the device in line with and at one end of said one line of type.

10. A sheet metal printing device having a plurality of printing characters stamped up from and projecting beyond one face thereof, said face-being common with the margins of the deviceand provided with a depressed portion beneath the plane of said face, and opposite Walls of said depressed portion being provided with perforations adapted to recelve an index tab.

JOSEPH ELDUN CAN. Witnesses:

'WVM. O. BELT, IRA J. WILsoN.

disposed in a plane 

